The BBC and the Conservative party clashed today over the corporation's payments to its biggest stars.

At the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, shadow culture secretary Ed Vaizey and BBC director of vision Jana Bennett disagreed over the publication of talent salaries.

Vaizey outlined plans to force the BBC to publish details of salaries. He said: "We want to make it happen. Legislation seems a pretty big hammer to crack this nut with. So there are a range of different options that are worth looking at."

Bennett defended the corporation's position in not publishing details of the individual salaries.

She said suggestions about the public making contributions to working out what to do about stars' salaries were "a bit like me talking about Tom Cruise's movie deals. I'm not of that sector."

Bennett added that performers had a different role from policemen or teachers, saying that publication of the salaries of talent could destroy the market and lead to price setting by politicians.

She said: "Would you tell a buyers' market what you were willing to put your house up for sale at?"

But Vaizey responded that the public had a right to take part in the debate.

"That is an extraordinary argument to put forward. You have to engage in a wider debate. I don't think you should be afraid of the debate. The public is far more sophisticated," he said.

"If you think Jonathan Ross is worth the money, go out and argue the case. Imagine if I was arguing that MPs' salaries should be kept secret. We are moving into an age of transparency and the BBC, which is entirely funded by the taxpayer, has to take account of that change."

Peter Fincham, previously the controller of BBC1 and now ITV's director of television and online, said that Ross actually signed to the lower bidder when he signed his corporation contract. Fincham negotiated the contract when he was at BBC1.

He added that the deal looked good at the time, but a year later it looked "like a piece of profligacy".

Vaizey later said: "The BBC still has a reputation for being profligate."

The Channel 4's director of television and content, Kevin Lygo, said that the BBC had become disproportionately wealthy in comparison to commercial rivals.

He added: "Suddenly the market is grotesquely distorted – if the BBC want to get someone they absolutely can.

"They don't understand how disproportionately rich they are compared to the commercial sector."

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